Now in January the phone overall is much better than it used to be. Unlike others, I have never had blowups or freezes and the last couple of upgrades have been pretty cool. So it does basically do what I need it to do.

However…it is STILL painful to still see important apps come out that say, “***** can run on PC, Mac, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile 2.0, Arrdvarks, Wii, all microwave appliances dating back to 1978 and… (tadaaaa!) now on Android.”

In other days a manufacturer paid the cool apps to get them on their hardware to make sure they didn’t look backward. Maybe being on Verizon will help. After all while Sprint can roam free on Verizon for voice so you get to benefit from that, Verizon has a better red map (more peeps – g). Can’t go back to AT&T – while they say they have a great blue map that doesn’t help much if you can’t stay connected.

One note – if better apps come out that ONLY work on the Palm Plus or Pixi Plus – well…that would end my interest right there. What the heck is a “instantly create your own hotspot for up to five devices with the new Palm mobile hotspot app” and why doesn’t my Palm have one?

My deadline is February, like you. That is when I’m eligible for new customer equipment pricing from Sprint.

I like the Pre, I like Sprint and I really *love* the WebOS. The interface, the gestures, email client, web browser are all top notch. I hate touch screen keyboards including the iPhone’s, you can never use two hands. With the Pre I can use both hands pretty comfortably, even with my huge thumbs. Seems like the Pixi’s keyboard is even better, so Palm got that right.

The apps… lacking compared to the iPhone, that has a two year head start, an unfair comparison. I am quite happy with the several web apps available through the browser which as I mentioned, I really like. Palm knows how to build a good developer experience, as their early success with the Palm OS demonstrates. This time around, I think they will succeed again, but need at least a year to judge them. What I like about their current approach is that they are updating and improving the OS regularly, which is where they failed in their last foray. I’m giving them till the next time I am eligible for an upgrade from Sprint, at which point I’ll seriously consider the Android phones. I am not ready to abandon my investment in the phone quite yet.

Sometimes I think it would help Palm (and their fanbase) if they got snapped up by a bigger, more internally competent organization. Dell would be a great fit; they’re great as a business selling and supporting technology, not necessarily inventing it. Palm is the direct opposite.

I really like palm, but I think it is a “dishonest” or “not nice” for palm or sprint to sell us a phone that they know is slow and get us hooked in this contract, etc….

I strongly suggest to all of us to contact Sprint and ask for our money back and for our contracts to be terminated.

I really do not need all this heart ache….

Just be patient. Remember, Palm invented the “smartphone” market… they will get this OS polished over the next few releases.